The Beginning of the End
by stolencinderella
Summary: Casey is the little sister of Robin Hood and the wife of Guy of Gisborne. She loved the both of them and now they're gone. She and Much are left in charge of the remaining memebers of the gang. MJR S3 SPOILERS. R
1. Within You, Without You

"Did you know that Vaisey was still alive?" demanded Guy, charging into Isabella's cell.

"You've got a nasty temper, Guy," she said, all to calmly.

"Did you know?"

"Of course, I knew," said Isabella, turning her nose upward. "It didn't suprise me that you didn't finish the job."

Guy attempted to take a deep breath to settle himself but Isabella smirked at him, knowingly. She stood, brushed off her skirt, and took a step toward him. His fists clenched watching everyone of her moves.

"You so want to kill me, Guy," she teased.

"The outlaws will show you no mercy after what you've done. While you're waiting you might want to consider this," he said, pulling a small orange vial from the little sack attatched to his belt.

Isabella took it, looking at it suspiciously. "Poison?"

"Slow and painful if you only take a little bit. You'll want to take it all if you want it to be quick."

"This is it. You're last favor to your sister. You do want me dead. But what's stopping you from doing it yourself? You seem so good at killing defensless women."

"You're right. I have too much blood on my hands already," he said. He turned to leave, but Isabella made to escape as he opened the door to her cell. Stopping her around the middle with his arm, he cast her back into the cell.

"You'll have more blood on your conscience if you don't go to the tunnel in two hours time," she warned, running a hand through her frazzled hair. He kept his back to her. "A certain wife of yours, Casey."

Before she knew it she was pinned against the wall with curved stilleto at her throat, but she laughed at the fury on her brother's face. His hand shook as he fought within himself about whether or not he should carry out his blades movement. Isabella sensed his weakness and enjoyed the pain it caused him. She arched her neck offering it to his desicion.

"Guy," cried a voice from behind them. Casey raced down the steps into the dungeon and into Isabella's cell, drawing Guy away from her. He looked around at her and followed her touch thoughtlessly. "Come on, Guy. She's not worth it."

She glared back at Isabella, easing Guy forward up the stairs before turning to the jailer. "Lock her up and don't let her out for anything. Did you hear me? No matter what she say or tries to tell you, do not open the cell."

"Yes, my lady."

"What was that back there, Guy?" she asked, joining him again as they left the dungeon.

"She told me... Casey, I don't want you to get hurt."

"Personally, I don't favor the thought of getting hurt just as much as the next person but we need every skilled hand we have out there fighting to keep this castle. And you know I have a very skilled hand."

"Vaisey will never give up, not until every single one of us is dead, esspecially me and Robin."

"I don't think he has much of a liking for me either, " she said. They were standing outside the doors of the Great Hall, but Casey took his arm so that he turned to face her. She ran her fingers through his hair and along his jaw with a smile. "We'll be alright. I don't know why, but I can feel it."

That night Robin collect the gang on the battlementsand he explained how they were going to try and destroy the catapults that fired the Byzantine fire at them, getting rid of part of the advantage Vaisey's troops had over them. However, Robin and Archer had gotten into a fight earlier that afternoon and the latter backed out. Though, in Casey's opinion, he had won the arguement by a landslide. Before allowing Guy to drop off the battlements with the others who were going she took his hand.

"Be as careful as you can," she said.

"I will," he promised, pulling her to his lips kissing her deeply only to release her back to Much's side as he, Robin, Tuck, and Little John dropped out of sight.

"He left me in charge," said Much, in disbelief.

"You've earned it," she said.

"But they'll be back before too long they'll be back" he said.

They watched the four shadowed forms disappear into the darkness and Casey nodded, wanting to believe Much's words as much as he was trying to. Together they left the battlements and as they reached the courtyard of the castle, Casey saw Archer standing in the corner, covered in shadows. Seperating herself from Much she joined him.

"I thought you were leaving," she asked.

"I was... going to."

"We still need you."

"Well Robin seems to think he's got everything right under control," said Archer.

"Robin always thinks that he has everything under control. That's what his gang is really for, to make sure that it is controlled. But, in all seriousness, Archer, our lives have never gone according to plan."

Archer smiled. Casey guessed that Guy must take after his father the way Robin had taken after thier father because the young man before them was a perfect blend of them. In his eye was the twinkle of a Locksley and in his smile was a hint of the only gennuine Gisborne smile she had seen, Guy's. Suddenly, there was a ground shaking blast from far off in the distance making everyone in the courtyard look around.

"Tell me that was planned," said Archer.

Casey shook her head and Archer took off around the corner. "What are you doing?"

He rode out with a horse. "Get everyone ready, the fighting starts now, but first I think our friends and family will need saving."

Within the hour, Vaisey's army penetrated Nottingham and flooded onto the streets. Rows of archers took thier aims, lead by each of the gang, wipping out as many as they could before reaching the gates of the castle in which they sucseeded in holding them off, shuting them on the outside of the courtyard. Rachelle and Robin readied another arrow attack on Vaisey and his personal gaurd when he pulled out his prisoner, Kate, a bearer of bad news.

"Oh, and you were expecting reinforcements," said Vaisey. "They're not coming."

Robin rounded the barricade. "You're lying."

"She'll tell you herself won't you," he said, turning to Kate disconcernedly.

"Without thier king to lead them they will not fight," she said.

Casey felt someone touch her elbow, which still held a target on the sheriff. Moments later she heard, Guy's voice in her ear. "Much's going to drop in and lift Kate to the tower. Fire as soon as they are out of your line of vision, the others will follow."

She nodded very smally, glancing to the archer's around her, both of which understood immediatly what to do and passed it down the line as Vaisey allowed Much and Little John to get in place on the tower. Little John jerked out of sight for a splitsecond, Much must have dropped over the side above Kate.

"Kate, above you," alerted Robin.

Much grabbed the blond village girl around the waist and was lifted out of sight again in less than half a minutes time and Casey fired the first shot, striking the man closest to Vaisey. She pulled another arrow into her bow as the rest of the men around her fired, but before she could take her second shot the sheriff and the remaining men charged off in the opposite direction. She turned and Guy offered his arm to her.

She grinned at him, even though she knew the fight was far from over. Vaisey was regrouping and would strike again, soon. For the first time Casey realized that she would be able to fight without bieng hidden behind a mask. Watching the soldiers approach the castle she felt her pulse beat faster and faster. She had her sword in front of her, standing between Guy and the Nottingham locksmith oldest son who was barely twelve years of age.

She had heard the arguement he had gotten into with his mother. He begged to fight in his murdered father's place, still his mother told him that he couldn't. Casey listened, guiltily, as her own name was brought into the fued. Finally, the boy told his mother that if she did not approve he would fight without it. It was not until he nearly reached the door when his mother called him back and gave her his blessing. Rachelle was sure that he had little experience but his passion would burn hot enough to help him at least until he was faced with the reality of taking a life.

They fought in the courtyard to keep the courtyard and were very nearly defeated when they suddenly retreated again. Some stayed behind to collect those who had fallen while any others returned to the Great Hall. Women and children took advantage of the temporary ceasefire to emerge from the chamber's where they hid to seek news of thier loved ones.

"Have you seen Casey?" Guy asked Robin.

"No, she was fighting next to you the last time I saw her," he said. "Why?"

"I've looked every where I can think of," he said, a tinge of panic in his voice. "I can't find her."

"Can't find who," said Tuck. He and Archer joined them at the table.

"Casey," choursed Robin and Guy.

"When was the last time either of you saw her?" said Robin.

"Just before they retreated, beating the snot out of two of those soldiers. They were no match for her," said Tuck.

"There's a ton of people here, Guy, you might have just missed her," added Archer. "Plus, Casey is a big girl. She can take of herself for a bit, don't you think?"

"Yeah," he said, though he did not sound very convinced.

"Robin!" called Little John from the door. "They're coming!"

Robin and Tuck raced off leaving Guy to notice that the door to the tunnel was closing by what seemed like its own accord. He started towards it not noticing that Archer watched.

"We really should get the others," he said, following after Guy, who had ignored the comment. He noticed a barred square in the wall. He tugged at it but slipped backward with a grunt, only to be shushed by Guy. "What does this lead to?"

"The cellar and then back into the castle," he whispered.

"It could be a way out," he suggested.

"It's blocked remember," said Guy. At that moment, deeper into the tunnel there was a huge blast.

"Not anymore," he said. Guy nodded for him to go.

As soon as he was gone he drew his sword. "Isabella?"

"I'm right here, Guy," she said, emerging from the shadows. "The tunnel should be clear now. We can both go right now. Be gone from this wretched place. Then again..."

She stepped closer still pulling out the poison vial, still full. "You could have taken this and been gone ages ago. Why didn't you?"

He thought of how Casey had so unintentionally stopped him from taking his life on several occassions. His grip on his sword tightened thinking that she could be dead somewhere in the castle killed by men that, by extention, Isabella was responsible for.

"Because he found something worth living for," said Vaisey, appearing from behind her. Guy poised his sword in his direction. "I don't think so, Gizzy. You don't want me to do anything awful to that something worth living for that I mentioned a moment ago."

One of the soldiers pulled Casey into the light. Her arms were bound behind her back and she had a blade held to her throat. She emitted the smallest of shouts for him but was pulled back against her captor. Vaisey smiled at his own cunning.

"Let her go," Guy demanded.

"I think I'll be giving the orders now. You see I set up this little trap so that I would be sure that I would kill you myself, I think I've earned that much. And once I've done that, depending on how I feel, I may not have to kill your little dove."

"Why don't we make a deal?" said Guy, quickly.

"What kind of deal?" said Isabella, before Vaisey could answer.

"You let Casey go, unharmed. And I-"

"No! Guy, don't!" cried Casey, trying to break from the soldier who held her. Another soldier came to assist in restraining her. He pressed the flat of the dagger on her skin, silencing her.

"You stay to meet your death, without a fight, as long as you are assured the safety of one person?" said Isabella, incredoriously.

"You don't know anything about your brother, do you?" said Vaisey. "He'll do anything to protect his lepers."

"Do you take the offer or not?" said Guy.

"She doesn't leave until you're dead. We don't want her bringing any of your new freinds to ruin this wonderful moment. Weapon on the floor before we give her back," said Vaisey. The soldiers shoved Casey towards Guy. She stumbled and fell into his arms.

He lifted her up and around so smoothly that no one but each other knew that he had cut her bindings with the dagger held up his sleeve. He knew that Vaisey had no intention on holding up his side of the bargain and niether did Guy. Casey stood behind him, slidding her fingers around the hilt of Guy's second sword, ready to draw, the second the time was right.

"Step foward, Gisborne," said Vaisey. "Meet your fate."

He took the step allowing Casey to draw the swort easily from its scabbard and attacking. The suprise gave Guy enough time to pick up his own sword and charge forward. A handful of soldiers appeared from the darkness outnumbering them but they did not stop. Casey was seperated from Guy as the soldiers moved her away from him. He was almost one on one with Vaisey, wipping out all between them easily. Isabella saw her oppritunity with both of them so occupied.

"Gisborne," warned Robin, joining him in the tunnel with Archer, diverting Isabella. "Not today."

Archer relieved Casey of some of her burden and then only eight remained. Archer, Casey, Robin, and Guy stood face to face with two soldiers, Isabella, and Vaisey.

"How fitting that it comes down to the important few," said Vaisey. "This one's new. I don't believe we've met."

"Archer."

"He's my mother's foolish mistake," spat Isabella. "Look at us, the whole sorry family."

"You ready?" asked Robin.

"Ready. Siblings in arms," said Archer, smiling to Casey on his other side.

All at once they bore down on the other four. It was Isabella who attacked Rachelle, She ran wildly toward her so furiously that it was almost easy for Casey to deflect her. She recovered quickly and blocked Casey's own attack.

"I wonder what Guy will do once I've killed you. The second love of his life stolen from him by his wayward sister," said Isabella. "I hope that he begs me to kill him. Oh, how I'd love to hear him beg even if it is for death."

"Don't hold your breath," said Casey.

Behind them, Robin stood over Vaisey sword raised, ready to make that fatal strike. Isabella pushed away her own opponent and turned to attack him from behind. Casey called out to warn her brother, securing the balance Isabella had made her lose. It was Guy who looked around and reacted.

"Robin," he said, pushing him out of the way as Isabella lunged. She grazed Robin's neck but Vaisey had moved, driving his sword into Guy's chest. He arched as Isabella ran him through from the back. He gasped as both attackers withdrew thier weapons and he crumpled sideways. Casey screamed and tried to run forward, tears flooding into her eyes, but Archer caught her around the middle, holding her back.

"Guy!" she cried.

"This ends here!" said Robin.

"Oh yes it does," said Isabella. She hissed, indicating the mark she had left on Robin's neck.

"It's just a scratch," he said in confusion. "It's nothing!"

"But, who knows, this blade could be rusty... or worse."

"What have done?" reeched Guy, trying to push himself up.

"I used your poison on the blade," she told him, before adressing Robin again. "A few drops are flowing through your bloodstream. You should be dead by sundown."

"Is this true?" asked Robin. Guy nodded, through teeth gritted in pain.

"Oh, this is too good to me true," chuckled Vaisey. "You've killed Robin Hood."

They started away. Robin started back toward them, when he stopped, looking at Casey still struggling with Archer to get to Guy. "This isn't over."

"Of course not. We'll be back to finish off the rest of your army. Wait for me? I don't want to miss the big moment," he said and they were gone. Archer released Casey. She fell at Guy's side as Robin lifted him to a halfway sitting position.

He held his chest, breathing quickly, summoning the power to speak from deep within him. "Get the people out. Take them into the cellars. The sheriff will takes him men the easy way right on through to the Great Hall."

"Once they've gone we can get everyone out back the way they came," said Archer.

"Get news to Tuck," said Robin. Archer nodded and started to get up when Guy grabbed him back.

"Brother," he said with the shadow of a smile arising. Archer gave another curt nod and left. He took another deep, shaky breath. "So this is the end?"

"For the both of us, my friend," said Robin.

"I'm sorry." The corner of his lips twitched into a smile as he took Casey's cheek in his hand, which she covered with one of her own while the other held his shoulder. He wipped a single tear from beneath her eye and she shook her head.

"At least you have someone waiting for you on the otherside..." he paused to look over at Robin. "Marian. She was always yours, Locksley."

"Guy, please, you can't..." Her voice faltered and fell.

"Take as much time as you need, Casey. I'll be there. I'll wait for you," he said.

"No, Don't leave me, I told you, you would be alright. I promised," she muttered.

"I am alright," he whispered, brushing more tears from her soft skin. "Thanks to you, Casey. I die proud. I'm free."

HIs final breath caught in his mouth, his head drooped in his hand, but Robin had to slide his eyelids over his sightless blue eyes. The hand he had at Casey's face started to fall, but she grasped it tightly before releasing it to drop at his side. She pressed her own hand to her mouth, shaking slightly as she forced her silent sobs back down her throat. She cupped his face in her hand, leaning very closley to him, placing a featherlight kiss on his lifeless lips.

"I love you," she breathed in the most sincire whisper he would never hear.

Robin remained silent for a minute and then spoke very tenderly. "Casey, come on. We need to get everyone out of here safely. We need to make sure he doesn't die in vain."

In the Great Hall, Tuck was finishing up his Byzantine fire when they surfaced from the tunnel. Casey walked blindly in a different direction, meeting Much across the room. Robin leaned on one of the barrels, looking up at the friar.

"Isabella?" he asked.

"She's with Vaisey. They'll be back," Robin explained, breathlessly.

"This is almost finished. Archer's getting everyone in the cellar. Gisborne?"

Robin shook his head, looking over to Rachelle. She had broken down against Much's shoulder, he patted her back gently, leading her with the rest of the crowd towards the cellar. As they lead everyone out of the tunnel Robin called to his brother and sister, brining them with him for his last action. He pulled a burning arrow into his bow, when pain shot through him and he started to double over.

"Can you do this?" asked Archer as he and Rachelle helped him steady.

"Of course I can. I'm Robin Hood," he said, but he nearly lost his balance again.

Rachelle and Archer exchanged a look and she lit her own arrow behind her older brother's back, firing it at the very same moment as he did. They both shot inside and met thier targets, the tops of Tuck's Byzantine fire.

The castle multiplied the explosion several times over making the entire building cave, The weary army on the hill outside Locksley cheered as they watched the dust arise in its place and thier heros emerge from Nottingham. Robin walked right past the celebration when Tuck told those who did not know about his fate. They followed after him and Robin said his goodbyes to his gang, his best friend, and then finally turned to Rachelle.

"My little sister, my precious sister, keep them all in line won't you? And don't forget that you can smile because yours is particularly contagious," he said. The smallest of sad smiles flashed across her face but it was enough to make Robin smile. "See?"

He wrapped her tightly in his arms hugging her for the first time since he had left for the Crusades. She squeazed him like they were that age again and when he held her in front of him, he kissed her forehead and walked off.

She followed him distantly. He dropped against a tree, very obviously lacking the strength to move forward. A pleased grin spread across his face and she read the word 'Marian' off his lip as he offered his hand to nothingness. Then it fell and he had rejoined his wife. She felt something press against her lips so lightly and so quickly that it made her start. It felt like a kiss. She traced her lips with her fingers. She felt nothing. A breeze, nothing more.


	2. Ticket to Ride

"Casey," said Tuck. His feet appeared on the ground in front of her, making her slowly lift her head to to look at him. "You need to say something to them."

"I... I don't do well in front of crowds," she lied.

"They need you to say something. Congratulate them, tell them that they can return safely to thier lives, and that thier dead are honored."

"But they're not. They're buried in the rumble of Nottingham castle with bodies of Vaisey and his army. We can't do anything to honor them and those people aren't stupid," she said, pushing off the tree and starting to walk away from Tuck. "Just forget."

"Casey," he repeated.

She turned back to him, angrily. "You want something to be said to them, say it yourself. Quit telling me what to do like you know what's best for me. You don't know me!"

"I just wanted to know whether you knew where we could get some candles," he said, calmly.

She and the others went to Locksley manor and collected a crate of candles. They handed them out to people explaining that to honor those who had given thier lives they would light all of the candles at once and send them down the river.

Casey seperated herself from the others, kneeling at the river's edge her candle held delicatley between her fingers. Night had fallen and the candles seemed to glow even brighter as they floated together past where she stood. She drowned away the mixed sounds of happiness and sorrow from the villagers as she started to lower her hands to the water. The warmth of the evening disappeared as she met the surface of the river, which sent a chill up her spine. She let a pained sigh escape her before releasing the candle and casting it out to join the rest. She stood, wrapping her arms tightly around herself, and watched her candle bob up and down with the rest until at last she lost track of hers and turned away.

They returned to the outlaw's camp for the night and spoke not a single word to one another until goodnights were exchanged. Casey curled up in the place where Guy used to sleep, the blankets held a hint of his scent, and she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. However, she woke with a start the following morning, her stomach churned. She launched herself from the cot and ran out of the camp. She didn't get far before she threw up. She coughed, pulling her hair away from her face and threw up again. She could figure out what had happened she had barely eaten anything since the previous morning.

Much had surfaced from the camp and rushed over to where she was doubled over. "Oh my God, Casey, are you okay?"

"Does it look like she is?" asked Archer, sarcastically. He took her hair from her hand and twilrled it in his hand holding it away from her head and shoulders as she threw up again. "Go get her a wet rag."

He helped her sit a little ways away from where she stood, releasing her hair behind her back, leaving his arm around her shoulder. Much returned with the rag which she used to wash her face and hands.

"Thank you," she muttered.

"Feel better?" said Archer.

"A little," she said, though her stomach felt as if it was going to explode.

Kate, Tuck, and Little John woke too and joined them outside the camp. They all wore expressions of tired confusion. Much felt Casey's forehead.

"You don't feel like you've got a fever," he said.

"I haven't. I just... I had a bad dream," she lied. Truthfully she hadn't dreamed at all. Something she was extrememly thankful for but she could not even abre to start to explain what she thought was wrong. "Come on, let's just get moving."

It seemed that a general agreement had been raised. They could not stay in that particular part of Sherwood. The Prince would no longer mess with the people of Locksley or Nottingham, so for the time being they were safe from harm. But it was not the only reason they could not stay near the place they all called home. There was so much that they were emotionally attached to, though all of it was just out of reach. Casey knew leaving would hurt but not nearly as bad as staying would. She came to the painful conclusion that sometimes moving on with the rest of her life would start with saying 'Goodbye'.

Casey didn't feel like she had really been able to though. She had watched both of them die but still as she and the others put more and more distance between them and the past the more she felt that at least one of them would run up from behind them begging them to slow thier step so he could catch up.

There would have been silence between them as they walked if Kate had not been talking. Endless talking about things that Casey barely had the concentration to understand. She was lost in her own memories of her brother that she, unlike Kate, could go without having to speak. Mixed in memories of Robin was Marain and Guy. Marian had been right about him all along, there was good in him. He had turned so wonderful towards the end.

"There was something just something about the way he looked at me," said Kate. Archer, who was walking next to Casey, groaned in boredom. Casey wondered whether Kate was no repeating herself.

It was not much farther along when finally Casey could ignore the constant mumble of Kate on the edge of even her deepest thoughts.

"Kate. Kate. KATE! Could you shut up for like five minutes?" Casey snapped. "Because, honestly, your voice is getting on my last nerve."

"Well if someone else wanted-"

"No. No one else wants to talk. And I think that you are just saying things to hear yourself talk becuase its more than obvious that no one is listening!"

"Casey, don't get angry with me. I know that you feel bad. I understand. I mean, he was..."

"My brother. You know supisingly I realized that at some point in the last twenty years, I need not be constantly reminded."

They had all stopped to turn to the confrontation.

"And you don't understand, Kate. You don't understand anything. If you think that just because he kissed you a couple times means that he was in love with you then you have a thing or two to learn about love," said Casey.

"Hark, who's talking," said Kate, temper rising.

"Excuse me?"

"You were in love with a murderer, a monster."

"Don't talk about Guy like that! You don't know him."

"I didn't need to know him. I knew what he had done. He killed innocent people without it scarring his conscience," said Kate.

"You think that he didn't regret the lives he took, you're a fool," she said, advancing on her. "Stop talking about my brother like he was a saint, because he wasn't."

"Robin loved me."

"ROBIN LOVES MARIAN! And he has always loved her. He's probably with her right now and he's probably forgotten all about you becuase he needed her. He didn't need you. It was you who needed him," said Casey. She towered high above Kate in her fury. "You should have chosen Much. At least he would have loved you a bit more."

Kate looked around at Much, whose eyes widened in the suddeness of bieng drawn into the conversation. He turned away tryng desperately to pretend that he had not been listening to the arguement.

"This isn't about me anymore. You're just getting angry because of all you've lost," said Kate. "I get it. Talk about that, it'll help. Trust me."

"Trust you?" said Casey, incredoriously. She could not believe that they had been brought back to the begginging of the conversation. "I don't trust you, Kate! I don't even like you! The only reason I even associate with you is because you are a good figther. So stop pretending we're such lovely friends because I can't stand you."

There was silence. Even the rustle of the wind through the forest stopped. The men exchanged uneasy glances as the two girls glared at each other, unblinkingly. Kate's chest rose and fell quickly in her irritation, while Casey's jaw set raising her chin so that she seemed to be looking down at her opponent. There was a moment where it seemed that a fight was about to break out between them, but when Kate reached for her sword it was to unfasten it from her middle.

"Fine," she said, throwing into the underbrush. "Since it appears that I am no longer useful. I'll just go and find my family then."

Kate turned and started away. Casey and the others watched her go. Much took Casey's shoulder the moment she was out of earshot. "You have to go after her, apologize."

"For what? I meant what I said. Why should I have to take it back? She's going back to her family. She never wanted to be an outlaw in the first place."

"So you're going to allow those words to be the last thing that that woman thinks of you?" said Tuck.

"I could really careless. Let's just go," she said continuing through the forest in an even more dodgy mood than before.

That night they laid scattered on the forest floor, wrapped tightly in the thin blankets they brought from the old camp. Casey was the last one to fall asleep and wake in dreams of the past that suspended her from her cruel reality. And she finally she felt comfortable.


	3. Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite

_**Casey crossed Locksley manor bound for the stables that lay on the opposite side of the village. She anticipated the relief that a long peaceful ride in the forest would ensure, that is if her brother, Robin Hood, and his gang of their outlaw friends did not interrupt her. After the rush of the past couple months she needed a chance to be alone, away from the places that stressed her so.**_

_**She had not known a single thing about what had happened in the Holy Land when the sheriff and Guy arrived unexpectedly back in Locksley, though she had assumed it had not been entirely in their favor for they were both in excessively negative moods. The sheriff had forced Casey to marry Guy. She was his reward for killing Marian, though she did not know it at the time. There was no light in Guy's eye that night and it seemed that he himself was dead as he left her alone in his chamber without laying a hand on her. He spent the next few days drinking him numb, when finally a ruckus outside the manor had drawn Casey from her bed early to see Guy fighting with Robin. It was another week at least before she was able to get to the forest and find out exactly what had happened to Marian.**_

_**"Casey," a voice called from behind her, pulling her from her thoughts quiet suddenly as she started to open the door of the stables. She looked around to see Guy coming towards her from across Locksley manor. "Wait, Casey, I need to speak with you."**_

_**"What is it?"**_

_**He took her upper arm pulling her into the stable closing the door behind them completely. Light flooded in from the windows on the rood created boxes of light and shadow on the barn floor. There were only a couple of horses standing restlessly in thier stalls.**_

_**"I need your help, Casey," he whispered. "It's Isabella; she is ambitious and seeks the position of sheriff."**_

_**"I wonder where she gets it from," she said beneath her breath before. "But you are the sheriff now. How can she-"**_

_**"She'll figure it out. She's already tried to poison me," said Guy.**_

_**"She has."**_

_**"I know you despised Vaisey as sheriff," he started. He knew that she did not favor him very much more but that was beside the point he was attempting to make. "Take that twice over and you might have some idea as to what Nottingham would be under a Sheriff Isabella."**_

_**"You want me to help you remain sheriff," said Casey, incredoriosly.**_

_**"No, that is not what I'm asking from you. I want you to keep Isabella from becoming the sheriff. Against Isabella, against Prince John. I am practically an outlaw. I have no one but myself to guide me. I know that it is my own fault and I'm not asking for you to forgive me or for your sympathy. I just need you to understand that I want to change."**_

_**His heart poured out in his words and the look his eyes told her that he was absolutely sincere. For a moment, Casey forgot who he was and was willing to give him a clean plate. She did not know where it had come from but standing before her was not the same Guy who had murdered her best friend. It was a different man, a better man.**_

_**"I will help you, Guy," she said.**_

_**A smile flashed across his face and was gone again, just as fast as it had come. He pulled a rolled up letter from his pocket and pressed it into Casey's hand. "This letter is to Squire Thornton, he's Isabella's husband. Take it to him; let him know what his wife has been up to."**_

_**"And you?"**_

_**"Will mostly likely be an outlaw or a prisoner when you return. But that doesn't matter," he said, cradling her jaw in his hand suddenly, touching her for the since he had become sheriff. "You just make sure that Isabella's husband comes after, alright?"**_

_**She nodded and she kissed her deeply in a way she never thought anyone could do. He helped her mount on one of the nearest horses and as she prepared to set out, she looked back down at him with a smile.**_

_**"Go on," he said.**_

_**"You'll be careful," Casey said, unexpectedly. He saw how surprised she was at her own words that he returned them with a curt nod and sent her off. **_

_**Someone jerked her awake and she was back in the forest rubbing her eyes as they adjusted to the light of a single dying fire around which Tuck was returning. She sat up stretching out her arms felling as if she had not actually been to sleep for as long as she had. She shook stiffness out of her neck looking up to the sky through the branches in the tallest trees. The dusty gray-blue of the sky revealed that it was just before dawn. The outlaws were gathering together thier things noisily when suddenly Little John stood up strait looking around.**_

_**"What is it, Little John?" asked Tuck.**_

_**"Wait, shush." said Little John. "Listen... did you hear that?"**_

_**"Hear what?" Casey yawned. Several of them shushed her as she folded her blanket away into her bag. There was a silence as all of them strained to hear what Little John had.**_

_**"I don't hear-"**_

_**The end of Much's statement disappeared into a flood of the outlaws shushes and as soon as they fell the hum of a voice in the distance reached them. It took another solid minute of silence until they heard it again, loudly and more clearly.**_

_**"Help! Please, help!"**_

_**"What were you saying, Much?" said Little John.**_

_**"Come on," interrupted Archer as Much opened his mouth to say something. Archer led the way in the direction of the voice, while Much watched him start off with a smug look on his face. Casey took his sleeve and pulled him off after the others.**_

_**"Who's out in the forest at this time of day anyways," said Much.**_

_**"We're here, aren't we?" said Casey, dodging around trees as they ran the hem of her dress held up around her knees freeing her legs so that she could keep up with the others.**_

_**"Yes, but we are outlaws. We haven't got any other place to be," he said, slowing to a stop with the others.**_

_**"Why'd we stop?" asked Little John.**_

_**"She stopped calling," panted Archer.**_

_**"She?" said Tuck.**_

_**"It sounded like a woman to me, but either way the calls stopped."**_

_**Casey looked around the forest. "There's probably not another soul in a mile from here. What are the chances someone else heard?"**_

_**"Not high," said Archer.**_

_**"Help," came the voice again, more distinctively a girl's voice. "Somebody. Anybody. Please, help!"**_

_**They set off again. Rounding a bend in the land the gang could see a large figure up ahead and as they drew closer, they saw that it was two people. A young woman was trying to support an unconscious man, whose weight was too much for her small body to lift. She looked stunned at the sudden appearance of assistance as Little John lifted the man away from her and she stood up, long brown ponytail falling to her lower back, flat as sheaf of parchment.**_

_**"What happened?" said much.**_

_**"We've been traveling for days. He said that we were almost there when he collapsed... just like that. I really don't know what happened," she explained.**_

_**"Where were you going?" said Tuck.**_

_**The girl watched as Casey checked her companion's heart beat through his short, dark beard. She swallowed. looking extremely worried. She was no more than seventeen, Casey was sure of that, as for the man. He looked to be in his twenties. She wringed her hands together before returning her gaze to her inquirers.**_

_**"Sorry?"**_

_**"I asked you where you were heading," he said.**_

_**"I... I don't know. I never actually asked him," she said, slowly, aware of how ignorant she sounded, but she continued. "He risked his life to help me. I did not ask questions. Please, just help him and when he's better he'll tell you anything you want to know."**_

_**"How long were you traveling," asked Casey.**_

_**"I'm not sure," she said, dropping her gaze to the ground.**_

_**"You don't seem to know anything do you?" said Much.**_

_**"Two days and three nights," said the girl in contempt.**_

_**"They need food and water," said Casey to Much, who volunteered and was gone before she could speak again. "Don't worry. He should be fine just as soon as you both have had something to drink. Could you tell me where you were coming from?"**_

_**"I can't tell you," she said.**_

_**Casey looked up at Archer, who raised his eyebrows and half-shrugged in response to the expression on her face asking for his opinion on the girl. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the girl.**_

_**"What about your name? Can you tell me that?"**_

_**"Tatianna," she said. "And that's Will, Listen I know I must sound extremely suspicious, personally I would not be up for trusting me at the moment. I mean a young woman traveling with an older man she doesn't know to a place she hasn't asked about but I trust him"**_

_**Dawn edged ever closer as Much returned his pouch full of his pouch full of water and what seemed like an entire bush of berries cut right off from the roots. After being nursed the water, the man, Will, turned his head and groaned. Tatianna helped him to a sitting position the moment he opened his eyes.**_

_**"Will, are you alright?" she asked.**_

_**"Yeah," he nodded. "I'll be fine. The sooner we get to..."**_

_**His eyes fell on the outlaws with a smile from ear to ear, which, when it was not returned, faded slowly from his face. Clearing his throat, he stood and brushed dirt from his clothes. Casey exchanged glances with Much and Archer, who were standing on either side of her.**_

_**"Little John, Casey, Much, none of you recognize me, do you? Its me. It's Will Scarlett."**_

_**The man before them suddenly melted into one they remembered. The moment he said his own name they felt foolish for not having seen it the moment they saw him. For the first time in days, smiles stretched across thier faces.**_

_**"Will, a beard? Really?" said Much as he and Little John separately shook his hand giving him quick one-armed hugs. Casey, however, wrapped them in a quick embrace.**_

_**"It's so good to see you all again. Where's Robin?"**_

_**Stepping back Casey looked to the others for the explanation they should give him. It was Archer who stepped up. "He's dead."**_

_**"Oh," said Will, inviting the awkward silence after him.**_

_**"I'm Archer, by the way."**_

_**"Nice to meet you," he said.**_

_**"He's my half-brother and this is Tuck, They are both outlaws like the rest of us," Casey explained. "But I thought you and Djaq were in Palestine. What happened?"**_

_**"We came back about a month ago. We were going to come see you as soon as I got back from getting Tatianna," said Will. He looked around at her. "She was raised by the circus but left. Show them what you can do."**_

_**Nervously, Tatianna got to her feet. Jumping to take a hold of the branch of a tree above thier heads and pulled herself up easily. The movement revealed that her dress was not actually a dress but pants stretched wide so that they blended with one another to give the illusion of a dress. Tatianna rocked her torso, pulling her knees in she dropped, spinning her entire body around the branch twice she pushed off flying into the air. She twisted her body so her back curved over another branch before flipping back to the ground, landing light as a feather.**_

_**"After the circus I became an outlaw. I stole food and necessities from the people who could afford so that the people who could not would have a chance. It wasn't too much... but the lord of the land had a bit of a problem with me. No one knew who I was and I so I became known as the Runaway," she explained. "I thought it was pretty exciting to have a reputation like that."**_

_**"I heard about her. I went to convince her to join the rest of in Winchester," said Will.**_

_**"Winchester?" repeated Much.**_

_**"You don't know about Winchester? I thought for sure that's where you all were going. It is the last city in England completely loyal to King Richard. But if you're not going to Winchester, where are you going?"**_

_**"We don't know, exactly," said Casey. "We sort of just decided that we couldn't stay in Locksley anymore."**_

_**"You'll come with us then," suggested Will, though they would not turn the offer down.**_


	4. The Inner Light

Winchester was amazing. Casey could not remember how long it had been since she had seen a market place full of happy people bustling around, talking merrily, unthreatened by the gaurds there becuase they were truely only there to keep the peace if a conflict was to take place. Will lead the rest of them towards the castle, standing towering above the rest of the buildings in town. He did not enter the courtyard, he turned down the street just before the gates and herded them into the third empty doorway down. Djaq came into the front room looking stunned at the people before her. Her hair was long, at least an inch past her shoulders. Will kissed her lightly on the lips before turning to the company.

"Look what I found on the way here, Djaq. This is Tatianna, Archer, and Tuck. They are outlaws from Nottingham and then The Runaway herself," he said.

After almost an hour of reaquaintance Will and the others filed out of the little home, leaving Casey alone with Djaq. There was a silence between them both thinking about how and when they should start explaining what had happened since they had last seen one another. It had been so long.

"You and Will married?" said Casey.

"Yes, very soon after we decided to stay in Palestine," she said.

"I was suprised you convinced Will to stay with you."

"It took quite a long talk to figure out what the best thing would be. Being together as outlawed husband and wife seemed like it would be hard to manage."

"And then you came back."

"We got homesick," teased Djaq. "I heard talk that you were married."

"I was..."

Her voice faded and she fiddled with the dark silver ring on her left ring finger. She remembered what Djaq must have remembered about Guy, how little she knew about who he really was or who he became. Djaq's eyes squinted a little bit examining Casey's ring from a distance. She tried covering it quickly the moment she noticed Djaq looking but it was too late. Djaq had recognized the emblem engraved in the metal.

"That is Gisborne's ring," she said.

"Yes... I'm Gisborne's wife. Wait, Djaq, its not at all like you think or it didn't end up that way anyways."

She had not talked about what had happened between her and Guy to anyone. She did not know whether she could even make Djaq understand but she would try. She had to try. She could not allow her friend to think that she had fallen in love with the horrible person that she knew.

_________________________

I know that this chapter was uber uber uber short but the next one is going be really long because its Casey's explination to Djaq in the form of flashbacks.

Come my friends. Onward.


	5. Strawberry Fields Forever

I know how painful reading italics can be when there is too much so I am giving you full awareness right now that the following chapter is a long flashback that basically fills you in on Casey's life with Guy from the last flashback (which was in italics) to basically my first chapter.

Onward

_________________________

The next morning Isabella introduced herself to the people as the best sheriff that they would ever have and then listened to a man accuse his daughter of refusing every suiter who came to call. The girl, Meg, was obviously headstrong for she claimed her offenses disconcernedly, giving her reasoning for each rejection the moement it was brought up. Casey thought that she would like to know this girl but, just as Isabella took her beneath her wing and announced that she had captured and sentenced Guy, Thornton surfaced from the crowd, claiming his wife and the title of sheriff. Disappearing into the castle with her, Thorton granted Casey the distraction she needed to slip into the dungeons.

She passed into one of the smaller dungeon chambers to see a dark figure laying on the stone bench in the cell directly in front of the heavy door. Moving silently inside, Casey didn't cause him to stir until the door closed behind her with a clunk. Guy sat up, looking around, squinting through the dim light to recognize his visitor.

"Casey?" he said, approaching the bars. "You're back. How'd it go? What's happened?"

"Thornton has just arrived. I think he makes the fourth sheriff Nottingham has seen in the past month. Isabella was trying to make it seem like she was the best thing that had ever happened to the people."

"Does that honestly suprise you?"

"No," she said. "But her face at the sight of Thornton did. She's scared to death of him. He seems rude and extremly arrogant but there isn't a nobleman that I've met who's not."

"Right," said Guy.

"Do you think that he's ever actually hurt her?"

"I think I know my sister. She over reacts about everything if it benefits her. He may have raised his voice to her on one occasion and she can turn it around to make it seem as though he beats her on a regular basis, without technically saying that he ever raised his hand to her."

"She's sentenced you to death, Guy."

His eyes fell and he sighed, dropping his forehead against the bars of his cell. "I know.. the jailer informed me this morning."

There was a noise from somewhere in the near distance that made them look around. However as they stood silently they realised that it was just the jailer scuffling around in the darkness cursing to himself. Casey placed her hand over Guy's as it gripped the bar, chained together with his other hand. He looked back up at her, his eggshell blue eyes connecting easily with hers as green as the trees of Sherwood in the summertime.

"You'll be in real trouble from Isabella if she finds you here," said Guy, blinking the stare from his eye.

"It was just the jailer, he's gone."

"You have been a great help, Casey, when it was the very last thing that you had to do for me. Thank you," he said. Casey looked away from him across the room, trying to force a smile from her lips, but her lips twitched upward. "What?"

"You said that to me once before," she said.

"What? Thank you?"

"Not just the words, Guy. The way you said it. I've only heard it once. We were so young then."

"When?"

"We were kids together. It was just after the fire. You were crying at the river when I came out from behind the bushes, you were angry that I had been watching you. But I talked to you like you weren't, I asked you whether you wanted me to help. You didn't think that I could do anything that would be any use to you at all."

"I remember," he said. "You're only a couple of years younger than me, but I figured that little Maid Casey with her dolls and bouncing curls was to young to understand what had just happened, that you wouldn't even know what to do to help. You proved me wrong."

"I got you those horses. That's when you asked what you could do to repay me."

"You gave me a hug and made me promise that I would smile more often," said Guy. The smallest of smiles creeped onto his lips. "That was all. I guess I never made good to that promise."

"And then you thanked me, just like you did a few moments ago. I still mean what I said though, you should smile because you're quiet handsome when you smile."

Reaching around the bar, Guy pulled Casey carefullt into a deep kiss. They seperated and she slid her hands against the stubble on his angular jaw and sank into his kiss again. All he felt after being numb for hours was her, all he smelt through the murk of the dungeon was her, and all he tasted after a day and a half without food was her. The sound of approaching footsteps, followed by the opening of the door made them seperate taking a few steps from each other, looking towards the group of people that were now gathering around the doorway.

"Lock her up," ordered Thornton, pushing Meg towards the cell next to Guy's. Isabella's eyes fell on Casey as the jailer elbowed through the throng of people.

"What are you doing down here?" she snapped.

Casey thought quickly, pulling the jeweled daisy ring from her finger. "I was just giving him back the ring that I never wanted."

She tossed the ring onto the floor inside the cell, glaring falsley at Guy, though he was watching the small sparkling object. Taking a deep breath, Casey excused herself from thier presence. She spent the next few hours trying to figure out what she was going to do, she considered going to Robin but she knew that he had no desire to help Guy, no matter how much Casey believed he had changed.

"Lady Casey, Lady Casey, wait. Please, wait," called the girl, Meg, rushing up from across the hall.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, well... not me specifiacally. No, I mean. Isabella realeased me from the dungeons," she said, faliing in step with Casey.

"I noticed," sighed Casey.

"But when I was down there I sort of got to speaking with Guy. He's not at all like he seems, like he's supposed to be. I mean, you know the stories. I was suprised."

"Perhaps you should not judge a diamond by its apperance in the ruff as much. Wait until it's cut and you'll see how it truely shines. People are a lot different once you understand where they have come from, what they've been through."

"So you do care for him?"

Casey refused to reply, remembering that Meg was working with Isabella. As likeable as she seemed, Meg was not to be trusted.

"He cares for you and you care for him... I think. How can you just stand around and not even attempt to help him escape?"

"Isabella put you up to this, didn't she?"

"No, Lady Casey. I come by my own will, against Isabella. She is wrong. I want to help your husband. He doesn't deserve to die like this. Whatever the bad things he's done, I'm sure you know thier full extent better than I, he regrets with all of his heart. He regrets it. I just don't think that I can do it alone and I figured that you were the only person in the castle that might be willing to help me save him."

"Why do you care so much? You spoke to him for an hour... maybe. How can you know that he regrets what he has done when you don't even know what he should regret?" said Casey, stopping halfway up the hall.

"You didn't hear him," said Meg, simply. "I have spoken to hundreds of men and never before have I heard a man speak so genuninely. Now you know what I'm talking about, I see it. He deserves a second chance."

After having secured the keys from Isabella's chamber without detection, all Meg required to release Guy was a distraction of the gaurds which Casey took in her stride she lured them away to investigate her claim of a suspicous ruckus down a nearby corridor. Cassey hid just out of sight waiting for Meg and Guy to emerge from the dungeons but less then ten minutes after she had disappeared inside Isabella arrived. Casey attempted to draw her away by knocking something around in a room raising the alarm of intruding outlaws but she let the gaurds deal with it, taking only a handful into the dungeons with her.

The following afternoon Casey stood nervously behind Isabella as she announced the executions of Meg and Guy. He attempts to make Isabella spare Meg's life for she had done nothing wrong. However his pleas are ignored and the executioners axe is still raised. An arrow is shot from somewhere deep in the crowd, knocking the axe from the man's hands as a fight erupts for Robin Hood and his men spring from the crowd. Casey turned to one of the soldiers in Isabella's personal gaurd and drew his sword against him, charging into the fight herself. She cut the bonds on both Meg and Guy and they started off the platform.

She turned from them to defend herself against the gaurds who had approached them from behind and then when she turned agian she saw a man with a spear make a strike towards Guy but Meg pushed him away taking the strike herself in the side. She started to fall as Casey stepped forward finsishing the spearman as Guy took Meg into his arms.

"Take her, Guy," said Casey. She seized the top of his sleeve and heaved him off. "I'll meet you near the river as soon as I can. Go."

He lifted Meg off her feet and was gone as the fighting died down. Robin followed Isabella and Thornton into the castle, leaving the rest of his gang to deal with the remaining soldiers. Casey tossed the sword onto the ground, running her hands through her hair feeling the responsiblity for the events fall onto her shoulders.

"What's wrong," asked Much, coming up to her.

"Nothing," she said, breathlessly. "I need to go."

She felt bad for rushing away from him so quickly after all she had not been able to sneak off to the forest as often as she used to since the constant change in sheriff and action occuring in Nottingham. Still, she had to find Guy and Meg. She would not be able to forgive herself if Meg died. She blamed herself for getting the girl caught up in releasing Guy. Casey realized that she would have done better to have been alone, that way it would have been her life alone on the line for him. It was nightfall by the time she found them, two seconds too late. Meg's head fell and Casey stepped out from the trees.

"You're too late," said Guy, voice cracking slightly. Casey kneeled at his side as he layed Meg's body tenderly against the roots of the nearest tree. "She's gone."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

Tears welled in his eyes, all the grief and remorse he had pent up inside burst from him as he started to cry. Casey took him agaist her shoulder holding him close to her, rocking him like a mother would her injured child. She bit back her quivering lip allowing tears to fall silenly down her cheeks. Guy's arms wrapped around her and the past truely disappeared while Casey comforted him.

Two evenings Casey was walking through the meadow, running her hands across the tops of the tall grasses. She smiled, remembering a time when she was no taller than the grass and could disappear completly by sitting down, because her sandy hair blended into the plants like no one elses did. He mother used to tell her how she and the forest were connected for she was colored just as brillaintly with a heart just as resillient. Her mother died in the forest later that same summer, having been abducted by radicals against the Crusades. They demanded that her father refuse to go fight but when he went to save her the radicals murdered her, not believing his claim to stay in England against the king's orders.

Casey sighed. She disliked being connected to the forest most of the time. When the sun shined it glittered with hope and light with the knowledge of Robin Hood's exsistance in every tree, but at night it was dark and lonely... lifeless. Yet that is when she came to it the most, that was when it had drawn her to it so many times.

"Shouldn't you be at home, little noblewoman," said Guy, breaking from the foliage.

"Guy," she said. He opened his arms to her and lifted her off her feet with his embrace. "What's happened?"

"Quiet a lot actually," said Guy. He then explained everything Casey's father had told him Robin the previous night. Casey listened intently, a single line of concentration appearing on her brow.

"My father and your mother?" she said, when he was finished. He nodded. "I always wondered why they were so friendly, but a son between them is a bit much."

Guy smirked at her light humor. "Robin and I are leaving for York tomorrow morning."

"You two have come to a truce?"

He nodded. Casey smiled.

"You have truely changed, Guy," she said.

"It was you, Casey. I need... I need to ask you something," he said. He took a deep breath and raised Casey's hands in his. "I want you to marry me."

"I already-"

"Not because you were ordered to or becasue you feel obligated to say yes or because for any reason other than your will. I want you to want to marry me. I want it to come from your heart. Just forget the ring that you threw to the ground in the dungeons. Casey, tell me if you want to marry me," he whispered.

"Yes, Guy, I want to marry you," she said, leaning closer to him.

He released her hand and pulled the dark silver ring off his right hand, slidding it onto her left ring finger. "This was my father's ring. It's got the Gisborne crest on it but I want you to have it as a proper wedding band."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, running her fingers through the strands of dark hair at the nape of his neck, kissing him. She felt him pull her closer, holding her against him, losing himself in her. They broke apart and Casey looked down at the ring.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's going to take a bit of getting used to that's all," she said. "How long do you think you and Robin will be gone to York?"

"As long it takes to find and free this brother of ours, Archer. A few days, I'm sure. I'll come to see you the moment I get back."

He kissed her again before they turned away from one another. Casey headed back for Locksley manor while Guy started back towards the outlaw's camp.

The next day Casey enjoyed watching Isabella squirm as she tried to decode the reasoning behind the sudden alliance of Robin and Guy, she even turned to Casey for her opinion. Finally, she sent word to the sheriff of York, putting a large price on thier return alive. Casey was not bothered, Robin had larger somes on his capture, though they were less specific. Isabella set off with her troops later that day but returned in less than an hour having been thwarted by the outlaws Robin had left behind. She was assured of thier safety when a messanger arrived as Casey was leaving for home requesting that Isabella come to York to retrieve the body of her captain.

She was sleeping lightly when new wieght on the bed made her wake up. Guy was leaning over the bed, the arm that held his torso at the specific angle was the wieght that had woke her. She smiled as she stretched her body out, yawning.

"You found me," she said.

"In my bed," said Guy, in a deep whisper.

"You are an outlaw. Nothing here belongs to you anymore, Guy," she teased. "How were your adventures in York? All I've heard is Isabella's side of the story."

"I doesn't even matter," he said, sitting next to her on the edge of the bed. "The boy right up and left once we'd freed him, the ungrateful little..."

Casey sat up, fiddling with the ties on his shirt around her neck. They fell away revealing a little of his bare chest. She looked up at him only to find that his eyes were already on her. She brought him towards her, kissing him, surrendering everything to him.

She woke the next morning, laying on his chest. She pulled the blanket from around thier hips to her bare shoulders, watching as Guy took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes, looking over at her.

"Good morning," he said, smiling. She repeated his words, snuggling herself closer to him, feeling his arms wrap themselves even farther around her.

"Don't you think the others will wonder where you've been all night?" she asked.

He nodded. "Though I don't think you'd appreciate me telling them."

"I really wouldn't."

"What was that?"

The sound of a horse reached them from outside the window that Guy had used as his entrance. Normally the sound of a horse's whinny would have meant nothing had it not been accompanied with the sound of Isabella speaking with one of the serfs. Both of them sat up quickly, thier hours of bliss over.

"I'm sorry, but Lady Casey is sleeping," said the serf.

"Then wake her," ordered Isabella as Casey and Guy pulled thier clothes back on.

"Lady Casey does not-"

"Fine, if then I'll wake her myself."

"She's coming," said Casey.

"Good, then she won't see me leave," said Guy as the footsteps drew closer. She followed him to the window, accepting his brief kiss. "I love you."

The knob on the door turned, forcing Casey to close the one shutter of the window before she could reply. Isabella entered just as Guy disappeared from sight. Casey's heart beat so rapidly that she could not even listen to a word that was coming from her. Not that she cared. She loved him.


End file.
